3/09/2005 09:18:00 AM|||Kurt|||I got home late last night and am busy this morning, so rather than me writing let me direct you to some interesting things smart people have had to say. I said smart people, not Plaschke.
(I’m not even sure what I could say about last night’s loss. With the playoffs on the line and a big road trip coming how do you come out flat? How do you give up a 7-0 run to start the game and a 12-0 run to start the second half? After two games of good defense, how do you take the night off on that end of the floor? Mihm has got to stay out of early foul trouble against teams with good front lines. I could go on, but it all seems redundant.)
1) Following the pathetic showing last night you might be looking forward to the off-season and who the Lakers can acquire. Eric Pincus at Hoopsworld is. He compiled a dream list of players the Lakers can go get, then explains why it’s not going to be easy to get any of them.
2) Really interesting piece in the New York Times by Dan Rosenbaum about the soft cap/luxury tax system used by the NBA. I’ve linked to Dan before, he is the most knowledgeable person on NBA finances and the cap not working in a front office (and is better than many in front offices). This really is a must read.

In 2002-3 and 2003-4, the tax redistributed $680 million from players and high-spending owners mostly to low-spending owners.
That $680 million equals one-eighth of total N.B.A. revenue over these two seasons and dwarfs the $80 million redistributed during the five years of Major League Baseball's luxury tax. (This does not include its revenue sharing.) N.B.A. welfare for low-spending owners even surpasses the cash welfare systems in 30 states.